Some people have them. Others simply don’t get them.
Many can’t imagine their life without them. I am the
latter.
Last night, when I felt the world becoming too big,
I took my pups to the park. Making sure no one else
was around and they were a safe distance out of
harms way, I unleashed them and off they ran.
Silas with his gray-ing snout to the ground. Chloe
springing about in every which direction, her legs
flailing along in excitement.
Freedom. That is what freedom looks like. That is
what God wants from us.
Too often we bog ourselves down with trivial tasks
we tell ourselves they must get done. Too often we
tell ourselves, “I’ll relax as soon as I get this
project done.”
Some people can do this. For others, like myself,
taking the necessary time to be Adam can be a
challenge. If I’m not doing something then I must be
doing nothing but anything is better than nothing,
and that is something. Or so I’m told.
Trying to make sense of life when I haven’t called a
time out is like trying to understand that last
sentence: painful, exhausting, all while wasting
energy that is already depleted.
In his book, New Seeds of Contemplation, Thomas
Merton articulates in one paragraph about the
importance of being what I’ve attempted to say with
many words, when he writes:
“A tree gives glory to God by being a tree. For in
being what God means it to be it is obeying [God].
It “consents,” so to speak, to [God's] creative
love. It is expressing an idea which is in God and
which is not distinct from the essence of God, and
therefore a tree imitates God by being a tree.”
You imitate God by being…well… YOU!
What I love about watching my dogs run free off
their leashes is that they remind me that true
freedom comes when we strip down all that binds
us—our job, our relationships, our vices, our (fill
in the blank).
Silas and Chloe know how to be one thing—dogs. They
don’t try to impress me with fancy words or clever
cards. And yet, in their being dogs, they have a way
of knowing what I need: a head on my lap when I’m
feeling sad, a push to go have a game a fetch or a
long walk when I’m feeling lethargic.
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Often I wonder, how did they know I needed that?
Perhaps it was because they have no other
distractions to prevent them from reading me,
sensing and seeing the world around them.
I like what author John Grogan said about his dog
Marley in his book Marley and Me:
“A person can learn a lot from a dog, even a loopy
one like ours. Marley taught me about living each
day with unbridled exuberance and joy, about seizing
the moment and following your heart. He taught me to
appreciate the simple things-a walk in the woods, a
fresh snowfall, a nap in a shaft of winter sunlight.
And as he grew old and achy, he taught me about
optimism in the face of adversity. Mostly, he taught
me about friendship and selflessness and, above all
else, unwavering loyalty.”
Today, take time to be you. Nobody else. You might
be surprised what God has to say…
PS—On Sunday, October 4th, 2015 at 5pm, on
the front lawn of First Presbyterian Church, you and
your pet are invited for a brief “Blessing of the
Animals’ worship service. Through singing and
praying, and of course, with a blessing, we will
gather to express our gratitude to God for the gifts
of creation and especially our pets. All are
welcome: cats and dogs, birds and sheep, amphibians,
and even the church mouse! Oh, humans, too!
[Adam Quine, Pastor of First Presbyterian Church
in Lincoln]
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